338 THE RISE OF ITALIAN FASCISM

country and at a given time, to seize upon its essential
differences. It is not a subject with definite attributes which
need merely be selected, but the product of a situation from
which it cannot be considered separately. The mistakes of
the workers' parties, for instance, are as much part of the
definition of fascism as the use made of them by the pro-,
prietary classes.

The present study of fascism has not been carried beyond
the march on Rome, but there is no reason why we should
not glance further.1 Although conditions in Italy ought
to be comprehensively reviewed and compared with those
in other countries during the years that followed, the present
less enterprising method may at least enable us to point
out a few common characteristics from which some con-
clusions can be drawn. For this purpose fascism must be
considered in relation to the economic, social, political and
psychological conditions from which it sprang ; to its own
social background and the class struggle ; to its tactics, its
organization ; to its consequences and the regime that it
set up ; finally to its own programme and ideology.

Fascism is a post-war phenomenon and any attempt to
define it by looking for an historical precedent, e.g. in
Boaapartism, is fruitless and bound to lead to false con-
clusions. Foremost among the conditions that made
fascism possible was the economic crisis. No crisis, no
fascism ; and this refers not to any economic crisis, but
specifically to the one that settled permanently over the
world after the war. The war left the world with industrial
capacity beyond its immediate needs and a complete lack
of co-ordination between the various branches of production,
complicated by a reduced purchasing power in all countries.
The result was over-production and famine, inflation and
paralysis. We are no longer faced by classical crises, which
rise from a terrible slump to a still higher rate of produc-
tion and consumption. The * periodic * crises have been
1 Some use has here been made of research work undertaken for a more
general history of the post-war world, which, given sufficient time, means and
strength, I hope to complete and publish later on.